[jambutty]

It sounds like a repetition of the Veteran’s Lapel Badge - an after thought and a cheap one at that.

I wonder if this ‘emblem’ was made in China like the VLP. At least it doesn’t appear to have two dents in the face, which is an improvement I suppose.

I wonder if the MOD is now going to honour the whole of the Merchant Marine because without those incredibly brave men and women, we in the British Isles would have had to throw stones at the enemy whilst we starved and ended up eating German sausage and bread. Tens of thousands of merchant sailors lost their lives in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian and Pacific oceans. The carnage was on a par with any theatre of war on land or in the air.

Can anyone possibly imagine what it must have been like boarding your ship in the States, that has been loaded with ammunition or aviation fuel, joining a convoy of 100 merchant ships to run the U-boat gauntlet across the Atlantic in the full knowledge that if just 20 ships got through unscathed they would be extremely lucky. Only to arrive at Liverpool and have the Luftwaffe chucking bombs at you as you try to unload.

Many torpedoed sailors who were lucky enough to be rescued and didn’t have their lungs burned away with fuel oil, once they recovered from any injuries, they signed up again for another trip through hell on water in the full knowledge that their chances of staying alive were practically non existent.